


Lost Music

by LiteratureWork



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Deaf Character, Deaf!ed, First time writing a deaf character please let me know if I can do better, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:53:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23415598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiteratureWork/pseuds/LiteratureWork
Summary: Alphonse managed to convince their father to enroll Edward into St. Flamel's academy. For Edward, it was going to be a major change from being homeschooled and he didn't think he was very prepared for it. For the school, they were going to have to adjust very quickly to enrolling their first deaf student.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Comments: 7
Kudos: 65





	1. The First Day

**Author's Note:**

> I had bits and pieces written up on this for a while. I don't know if I will finish it but I am bored with COVID-19 and here it is. This is my first time trying to write a deaf character and so if you think I need to make any improvements on how I depict him, please let me know. This is a learning opportunity.

**_Lost Music_ **

Chapter One

The First Day 

Edward stared at the huge building in front of him. To say the least, it was gigantic and probably very expensive. Large stone entrance steps cascaded down from beautifully crafted oak double doors built all below a giant intricate bell tower. It looked like the type of place governors go to bitch at each other for hours in luxury. He would not doubt that Julius Caesar himself took a shit in one of the bathrooms. It was much more than he expected from his weeks of waiting in cold anticipation. This was it. This was school. And behind all of the awe that the glittering building had put on him, Edward knew he was going to hate it.

It wasn’t that Edward never saw a school before, he just never thought he would be going to an actual one, especially one of such high prestige as this one. He never thought he would ever be enrolled. And to put it plainly, he was terrified. It was all his brother’s fault really that he was there. Against all of Edward’s complaints, Alphonse had pressured their father to apply him to one of the private schools in the large city of Central, St. Flammel’s. It was a preparatory school that his little brother had been attending since the sixth grade. Edward, on the other hand, had been homeschooled by a tutor nearly his entire life until this very moment. Yes, it got lonely just by himself, but at least it wasn’t a zoo of teenagers. Edward didn’t need friends, he needed a peace of mind but unfortunately he wasn’t going to get that now that he was here.

Though his brother had been at St. Flammels for several years, Edward never actually saw the campus for himself. His brother was trying to convince him to go ever since his first year there. He said it was the best place with a lively social air and challenging curriculum. He was always trying to sell the school to him with big words like that since it was obvious that he wanted him to get used to the outside world and talk to people his age. Alphonse was just looking out for him, but Edward wished he could just let this one go. He kept pushing his request aside until his bastard father jumped in with him and enrolled him in St. Flammel’s. This was his first taste of school and he could already tell he wanted to leave.

Students shoved their way past him, knocking him in the shoulder and mouthing unkind comments. Edward grumbled under his breath and shoved his hands deep into his pockets of his tight and uncomfortable uniform. The tie felt like it was choking him to death. Dying of asphyxiation though would be the least of his concerns, it was dealing with the other students that would be the most difficult. He knew that this idea was getting worse the more he stayed there. He felt a slap on his left shoulder and looked over to see his little brother standing next to him with a huge grin on his face.

“What are you smiling for, this is all your fault,” Edward whispered to him.

“Everything will be alright,” Alphonse said slowly as he grabbed him by the arm and lead him into the building. Edward’s steps were heavy and he felt like someone suddenly placed a block of lead into his book bag. He wasn’t sure he would be able to do this. “I am sure you will be fine-”

“Yeah, people will make fun of me ,” he gritted underneath his teeth.

“You worry too much.”

“Says you.”

“Knowing you, you will make friends in no time,” Alphonse sighed in sarcastic defeat.

“Don’t want em,” Edward grumbled not catching on. Alphonse rolled his eyes and Edward focused on the crazy haze around him. Teenagers swarmed the hallways like animals at a watering hole. They ran down the hallways and crowded doorways in a jungle of lockers and book bags. Edward felt utterly lost only two steps in the main building. He didn’t want to see what the rest of the campus looked like. He could only picture that with how full this was, the other buildings were just as flooded. Alphonse tugged him along and pulled him into a large oak office, carpeted with fancy red velvet. Everything seemed fancy here, a little old fashioned for Edward’s taste. An old lady greeted them as they entered the room and Alphonse introduced himself. He suddenly felt something nudge him in the side and he jumped a little in surprise. Alphonse was looking at him expectantly, his golden eyes still smiling.

“She asked you what your name was,” Alphonse told him slowly.

“I’m Edward,” he replied circling his fists around his heart to show her his name. The woman looked a little shocked and Edward scowled and looked away as he jabbed his brother in the ribs. Why couldn’t he have just introduced him? He was talking anyways. He hated it when people looked at him funny. They always just stared and asked dumb questions, or worse, talk behind his back. It was like they thought that because he couldn’t hear he didn’t know what they were saying. He got it enough from his father and his friends at the stupid Christmas parties they throw once a year at their house. He would always catch his father explaining him like it was a pity case, which most people took that way. Some of his father’s friends obnoxiously over emphasizing words as if he didn't know Amestrian.

He saw Alphonse apologize for him to the lady who must not have known that the school had just recently enrolled a new deaf student into their Junior class. She turned to him and just like everyone else opened her mouth a bit too wide and talked obviously too loud. That was never going to make a difference. Edward felt his fist clench and he wanted to just turn around and walk out of that stupid office, that stupid building, and get back home with his own books, but his brother was staring at him expectantly. He choked down his anger and rolled his fist in a circle over his chest to show he was sorry. That made Alphonse smile and look content. The old lady squealed and pinched his cheek with absolute ferocity that Edward thought it was going to fall off. He pulled back and rubbed the welt that was undoubtedly going to be there for the rest of the day. The woman went back behind her hidden desk and handed him a folder full of papers that they came here for.

“See? That wasn’t so bad,” Alphonse told him as they walked out of the office. He still felt the stinging in his cheeks as he watched his brother talk and sift through the papers in his file. “It looks like… locker number 310. Your first class is Calculus with Mr. Gruman.” He showed Edward the file and he looked it over. That was in the Science building which was apparently, if he remembered Alphonse’s many vast descriptions of campus over the years, all the way on the other side of the green. He let out a relenting sigh as he stuffed the papers back into the folder and tucked them underneath his arm.

Suddenly the air in the hallway stiffened and Edward looked around curiously to see everyone frozen in their place. Even Alphonse seemed to stop for a split second before all action of the students was picked back up again. Lockers closed and students started to disperse through doors of various classrooms. Edward felt himself get pushed a bit as the halls were congested with too many people trying to get to different ends of the campus it felt like a sardine can. Alphonse put a hand on his shoulder and he looked over to see his brother smiling at him.

“That was the bell. Your locker is just down that way a few more yards. I am sure you could find your class alright? I have english now-”

“Yeah, Al,” Edward grumbled at him.

“Brother, just remember to try and make friends… I know you aren’t the most open person-”

“I am as open as I want to be-”

“Which is barely any at all-”

“Al, it’s not my fault,” Edward muttered almost inaudibly and Alphonse quickly covered a frown with a small weak smile.

“Please brother, please try.”

“Yeah, yeah, Al, I am not a child,” Edward grumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. He hated seeing his brother worried about him, especially about something as stupid as this. However, luckily his brother’s mood turned up a bit and the smile turned into a bearing grin.

“Well, your height could have fooled me,” Alphonse teased with a pointed nose. Edward growled and grinded his fist down on his brother's head, tussling his hair roughly.

“I am still taller than you!” he retorted. Alphonse chuckled and waved him goodbye as he turned down his own corner of the hallway. The students had mostly dispersed from the hallways and Edward pulled his folder out from underneath his arm to double check the locker number again. Yes, it was still 310. He paced his way down the hall until he came to the string of metal boxes that his was under. A few kids were lingering around, hastily grabbing their books from their lockers or just loitering not caring if they were missing a boring lecture.

Someone was rooting through the locker right next to his. He tried to open the door without bumping into the man but the door of the other locker was opened up so wide he couldn’t even reach his. The student didn’t seem to know he was there so he tapped him lightly on the shoulder. The small black haired boy looked up with a look of surprise, his dark eyes scanning him over through overly thick glasses. Edward motioned to his locker and the boy hastily apologized with a smile and closed his locker door just enough so he could open his. Edward twisted the combination that was given to him and popped the metal cage open. He took his heavy books out of his bag and stacked them on the small shelf, only leaving his Calculus book that he needed for the next class. With his schedule he noted that he would be able to stop by his locker between the bells so that he could switch out his books. He was rather grateful for that because eight textbooks were heavy as it was, carrying them around all day he might have broken his back! If he was back home he wouldn’t have to have bothered carrying all of his books around from classrooms, they would all just be right there.

As he went to close his locker, Edward felt another tap on his shoulder. He turned to see the boy was still standing there with a huge grin plastered on his face. There was a slight worried undertone to his expression and Edward wondered how long he must have tried to get his attention before he tapped him. Great, people were already intolerable of him. However, the boy seemed to put it aside as he had his hand raised out to him for a shake. Edward realised he was introducing himself and quickly looked up to his mouth just in time to see the word Fury escape silently from it. Fury? Firey? What kind of name was that? Edward reached into his bag and pulled out a piece of paper. He scribbled something down for the kid to read and the boy raised his eyebrow at this weird transaction. However, he read it and nodded his head with contempt.

“Oh, Edward Elric… new student here…. you? I heard….. Alphonse’s brother…. Homeschooled right?” Edward blinked a couple times and right to focus on what he just read. The boy was talking with what seemed to be a stutter and he couldn’t really grab everything. He simply nodded his head hoping he answered the right question correctly. “....talk much…. me neither...let me see your…..” Fiery held out his hand and Edward looked at it and back up at the boy curiously. He seemed nice but he wished the kid would just leave him alone so that he could get to class. Fiery seemed to notice his confusion and his smile faltered a bit. Edward turned a bit red as he noticed the boy was probably studying him a bit more now. He must have looked stupid not replying, but his mind was wandering with puzzles of trying to figure out what he said. A lot of his old friends stopped talking to him before he learned how to lip read because conversation was just too slow and broken. Nothing could get across anywhere. It was so isolated not talking, but now that Edward could communicate, he learned the ignorance of some people.

“Your schedule?” the kid said again slowly, his mouth widening a bit and finally able to write a few words in his head. Edward’s eyes widened as he realized what he wanted and he rooted through his file. The kid looked it over with a huge grin as if the last few seconds didn’t matter. “Great! We… same…. you can follow…” The boy motioned for him to follow and he lead him out of the building and across campus. Edward scowled as he saw the boy was still talking as his jaw was moving up and down, but he couldn’t make out what he was saying. The kid must think him stupid for not replying because he kept looking back as if expecting an answer to an unknown question. His face seemed genuinely happy and Edward couldn’t seem to ward him off to end the conversation. Even though he wasn’t replying, the boy kept talking as if he was just excited to see him. Before long, they had crossed the football field and entered the Science building which was just as elaborate in its architecture as the previous one. They turned a corner when suddenly Fiery jumped out of the way drastically as if trying to avoid something. He spun around and yelled something at him but Edward ended up being collided from the back and sent reeling to the ground. He tumbled as someone ran into him and they crashed together to the floor. Edward felt himself groan as he rubbed his side, sitting up. Fiery rushed over to him to make sure he was okay and was babbling something that Edward wasn’t paying attention to as he tried to gather his senses together.

What seemed to be styrofoam and cardboard laid scattered and broken across the tiles. Colourful pieces of paper were crumpled and flattened as what seemed to be a chemistry project laid crushed on the floor. Edward blinked a couple times when suddenly he felt a hand grab the front of his shirt and yank him up angrily. Fiery was pushed out of the way as a different student scowled furiously at him. He seemed to be yelling at him for what he could only assume was his project. The new kid was talking too fast that Edward couldn’t even understand any of it. He reached up to try and pry the boy’s arm off of his shirt but he didn’t get far when the boy pinned him against the wall.

“You ruined my project,” the boy yelled at him. He felt the burning black eyes scorch him as he stayed focused on the boy’s lip to try and understand him. Fiery ran up to the two of them and tried to pry the boy off him. He managed to get him off but the new student was still flustered and red in the face.

“He…. by it…. new student-” Fiery started to try and explain his case. The two of them started to argue back and forth when Edward quickly reached into his pocket for his notepad and jotted down a couple sentences. He handed it off to the new boy who seemed rather taken back that he was handing him a note. He read it like it was blasphemous.

‘I am sorry for your carbon model. I didn’t know you were behind me. Could I help you with it?’ The boy growled and threw the notepad at his head. Edward quickly ducked as it flew past and he yelled something again.

“Due today, idiot!” he made out. Edward quickly picked up his notebook and jotted something else down on it. As the boy’s back was turned picking up the project Edward chucked the notebook at him and it hit his mark. The boy spun around angrily and read it over quickly before pure hatred filled his eyes. Suddenly Edward found himself hitting the floor as the boy tackled him. The boy's fist hit him square in the jaw and Edward returned the favor twice as hard in the nose. The kid fell backwards gripping his face as Edward tried to stand up but a hand quickly latched down on his collar and pinned him to the ground seeking revenge. His mouth was running, spinning some odd words that Edward couldn't catch because his eyes were focused on the black fiery ones. He was angry and frustrated and Edward knew all of that was coming at him. The kid made another punch for him but hands appeared out of nowhere and pulled him off of him, ending the fight. He struggled as they were separated, wanting desperately to finish him but it was over. The teachers were there.

Edward brought his hand up and gripped his jaw as he felt it throb from the hit he took. He didn't look like it, but that kid could punch. He knew it was going to bruise and he really didn't want to feel it. However, looking back he seemed to have it worse. He now had calmed down and was getting observed by the nurse. His nose was already starting to bruise in an ugly purple and red mess and if it wasn't broken it would have been a miracle. A small prideful smile found its way on Edward's face as he saw the kid wince in pain when the nurse touched it. Unfortunately, it was short lived as a shadow suddenly loomed over him where he sat on the floor. Edward glanced up just to see angry golden eyes glaring down at him in disappointment. It was Alphonse.

“How did you get here so fast?” Edward signed to him, his pride hurt even more as his younger brother began scolding him. He knew that Alphonse would have eventually found out about the fight. It was a small school and news got around, not to mention that the headmaster would have undoubtedly called him in when their father couldn't show up. Alphonse grabbed him roughly by the collar and dragged him up to his feet. Edward winced as he could feel his body already start to become sore from their scuffle.

"I am in the classroom right down the hall, you idiot! I heard everything!" Alphonse scolded him, signing back at him just for emphasis. Alphonse knew he learned how to read lips but occasionally signed when he especially wanted to get his point across. "You haven't even been in school for more than half an hour! You haven't even went to your first class!"

“I was heading there with F-I-E-R-Y when that other kid started it _.”_ Edward motioned to the dark-haired boy who was getting a lecture of his own. It appeared that the teachers were more focused on him than the new student. However, Edward knew that he would eventually get his turn with the professors.

"First of all, he’s K-A-I-N F-U-E-R-Y, not fiery. Second, that other kid is R-O-Y M-U-S-T-A-N-G and I _totally_ believe he did it," Alphonse snipped, rolling his eyes in disbelief. Edward couldn't hear sarcasm but he sure as hell could read it. "All I wanted was for you to try!" Edward was about to retort that he didn't even want to be there when he saw another person join the conversation out of the corner of his eyes. It was an old greying professor with a mustache that was near perfectly kept. He seemed like a senile old man but the powerful glint in his eyes told Edward that it wasn't so. The man started speaking, his mustache covering his mouth which made it hard for him to read it. It wasn't until Alphonse gave him a not too gentle jab in the ribs that he realized he was talking to him. Edward motioned to his lip, and though Alphonse was still fuming, he got the idea.

"This is Professor Grumman," Alphonse told him. "Your first class was with him. He wants you to apologize so the both of you can get back to class. He doesn't want to inform the headmaster because it's your first day." Alphonse muttered something under his breath afterwards that Edward couldn't catch but he had to bet it was along the lines of him wanting him to get reported.

“I don't see what I must apologize for. He ran into me and threw my book at my head.”

"You almost broke his nose! You're lucky it isn't broken or else I just might have to break yours!" Alphonse yelled at him. "Now go apologize and stop being an idiot!" After he finished signing his point, Alphonse shoved him forward and Edward almost fell into Roy who had come up on his conversation. His nose looked horrible. The bruise started to spread from his nose to underneath his eyes and Edward could tell that it must have been very painful. Not that that made him any less proud of his punch.

The kid glared down at him with his burning coal eyes and it seemed that the kid felt the same about his apology. They both knew it was going to be fake. Edward growled under his breath and brought his fist up to his heart and circled it, to show him he was sorry. The kid however obviously didn't understand and seemed to want to start another fight right then. He growled at him quick and under pronounced that Edward could only catch a few words of it.

"Breaks someone’s nose and the shrimp doesn't even apologise," the kid huffed, crossing his arms in anger. Edward scowled at him and brought his hands back to shove him again but arms wrapped around him from behind and dragged him a couple paces away. He fought against him, the urge to strangle the kid grew to new heights as his brother set him down out of the way.

Disappointed golden eyes glared at him once and ordered him to stay put as his brother exchanged places with him in the conversation. Edward couldn't tell what he was saying as his back was to him but it seemed that he was giving his long spiel on how he couldn't hear. Edward grumbled to himself and glared down at the floor like it was poison, occupying himself with trying to get a scuff off of the tile. He hated it. He couldn't finish his own damn conversations and he couldn't finish his own fights. It was sad that he hadn't expected anything more from coming here. It was the same damn routine as always. He wished dreadfully to go back to homeschool with Mrs. Curtis. Though she would rip him a new one if she heard he got into a fight, it was better when he could actually talk to someone instead of just guessing all of the time.

As Edward brooded he felt a tap on his shoulder and he looked up to see the small kid he met earlier. He handed him back his notepad which he had lost during his fight. Edward took it from Fuery, giving him a small thankful smile and his eyes turned down to the paper to read a small sentence scribbled on it.

‘I am sorry I didn't know you couldn't hear. I guess I was talking a lot on the way here.’ Edward looked up at the kid curiously as he read it. The innocent smile on his face seemed like he actually wanted to hold a conversation. Edward wanted to ward him off. Every time he tried to talk to someone like this they gave up. It was too slow and no one had patience to try and talk to him. As much as he knew how it was going to end, Edward sighed as he took the pen off of the top of the notepad and started to scribble a reply. Fuery was nice enough so far. He couldn't just say no.

‘You aren't the first. Who is he?’ Edward wrote and drew a little arrow that pointed towards where his brother and Roy were talking. Fuery followed the arrow up to see who he was referring to and adjusted his glasses as he took the notepad back.

‘Roy Mustang. He's one of my friends and isn't bad just… hotheaded. He has been under a lot of stress recently with his project.’

‘I offered to fix it.’ Edward replied and the kid just shrugged his shoulders.

‘He honestly isn't that bad.’ He repeated quickly before Mr. Grumman approached them. He began talking again and Fuery quickly left as he seemed to have been ordered back towards the classroom. Edward was left with the mustached man, clueless as to what he said. The man motioned for him to follow. Edward noticed that the other teachers as well as his brother were already leaving back towards their own classes and their own lives. It must have been announced over. Edward quickly gathered his things from where they were scattered across the floor and started to follow the teacher to where his Calculus class lied. He passed Mustang along the way as he was bent over picking up the smaller pieces of his ruined project. The kid looked up and glared at him as he passed, an ingrained hatred still in his eyes. Seeing that the coast was clear, Edward grinned smugly as he quickly gave him a sign that he knew the boy could understand. The look of rage that spread across the kid's face was satisfying and Edward turned his back as he followed the teacher the rest of the way back to the classroom.

When he entered the room he could see many of the students were racing back to their chairs, obviously having been sneaking a peak at the fight down the hall. He scowled at them, angry that the couldn't mind their own business. Edward followed the teacher to his desk. He could see that the man was talking but he couldn't tell if it was directed towards him or towards the class. After a moment of supposed silence, the man turned back to him expectantly and Edward knew it was towards him. He sighed and reluctantly pointed towards his ear as to remind him that he couldn't hear him. The man seemed to apologize quickly and motioned for him to take a seat. It was as simple as that.

Edward turned to the class to realize that all the eyes were on him. He felt himself turn slightly red as he looked around for an empty seat. It was a small classroom and all of the desks were taken except for two near the windows at the far side of the room. Edward saw Fuery sitting there amongst the other students and the kid waved at him, motioning for him to sit there. Edward quickly scuttled himself out of the limelight and collapsed in the chair next to Fuery. He sat infront of a large red headed kid and behind another student that reeked of ashes. Edward snorted through his nose once to get rid of the strong scent and leaned back in his chair to get away from it. The blond kid in front of him turned around and glared dangerously at him and Edward almost thought he was going to get into another fight until he felt a nudge in his back and saw the red head snickering quietly behind him. He must have made a comment on his smell.

“I told him to stop smoking or else he would repel everyone with his smell. That's why I sit back here.” Edward's eyes widened as he watched the kid sign slowly to him. He felt his jaw drop and blinked a couple times to let the realization sink in. This guy knew what he was saying.

“You know sign language?!” Edward asked in awe as the kid nodded his head.

“Learned it instead of spanish. My name is H-E-Y-M-A-N-S B-R-E-D-A.”

“E-D-W-A-R-D.” He introduced and shook the kids hand. The kid stiffened suddenly and pointed back up to the front of the class. Edward turned his head to see Grumman glaring at them. He must have told them to shut up and pay attention. There was already a good length of notes on the board for derivatives and Edward quickly scrambled to pull his notebook out of his backpack along with a pen. However just as he was about to start copying the notes he saw a piece of chalk set on his desk along with a small piece of paper.

 _‘_ Solve the equation _._ ’ It read. Edward looked up to see Grumman standing over him, a clever gleam in his eyes. The man wanted to challenge the new student, either that or make an example of him. Whether it was for talking in class or starting the fight, Edward didn't know but he knew that the man wanted to see what he knew. That was a lot. Edward sighed as he picked up the chalk and took the man up on his dare. The man walked with him back towards the front of the room and Edward studied the board. One thing Izumi taught him well was the sciences and math. She argued that art wouldn’t get you anywhere in school and literature was nothing if not vocal, but the sciences will always be there for anyone. Edward, in his lessons, took a very keen liking to math and chemistry, often getting the work done in those classes first while falling a bit behind in the english and history.

_Integrate dy=(5x^2 -4x +3)dx_

Edward quickly started to hit the chalk to the blackboard and write down his work. The Professor was standing right next to him, nodding his head every now and then as he continued on. He had to erase a few times as he accidentally forgot to add one to the power but he continued. When he finished, he set his piece of chalk down and looked at his work. The Professor patted him on the back as if telling him good job and quickly sent him back to his seat, his plan of teach him a lesson ruined. In the man's defense, it wasn't that hard of a problem.

Edward returned to his chair and when he sat down he noticed a piece of paper resting on his desk. He picked it up curiously and saw that a small map was written out on it. It showed the desks around him and held people's names in it. He could tell from his previously scribbled notes that Fuery had made it as he was up at the board. Edward was grateful as he read it, really not wanting to get confused as people struggled to introduce themselves to him. Riza Hawkeye was the girl who sat across from him, Kain Fuery, Jean Havoc the smoker in front of him, Vato Falman who was behind Heymans and… Edward felt a growing pit in his stomach as he read the last name on the small map. Roy Mustang. That bastard.

…….


	2. The Notebook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward finishes his first day at school and it definitely was worse than he was expecting.

**Lost Music**

Chapter 2

The Notebook

Edward guessed the bell had rung when everyone started to pack their bags and leave the class. He quickly shoved his notes into his backpack and pulled out his schedule to find his next class. It was english, as if he knew where that was. Edward felt a hand rest on his back as he saw the blond haired woman, Riza Hawkeye look over his shoulder. She pointed to his schedule and then at herself.

"I have that next you can follow me," she said clearly and Edward could actually understand her. He nodded his head, accepting the offer easily. It wouldn't do to make a scene twice in one day by being late. He put his book bag on his shoulder and quickly waved to Fuery and his other friends before following her out of the classroom. The halls were crowded and Edward had trouble keeping up with the woman. Some people waved to her but she kept her greetings short which Edward was grateful for. He was lost in the huge campus and he would rather not have another confusing introduction again. Riza lead him across the grounds to the school's library. Edward faltered a little bit as he looked at the floors that were filled with books to the brim.

"Whoa," he gasped to himself in shock as he looked around at all of the shelves. There were floors of books! They were everywhere. Students were hunched over studying at tables with piles of them sprawled out in front of him. Edward often went to the library near his house to get books out for some lessons that Mrs. Curtis had him do. He often holed himself up in his room with a good book or two because there wasn't much else for him to do aside from go outside and get yelled at by his neighbors who had grown to believe he was purposely ignoring them. But the library was small and he easily finished all of the interesting books in it and even some of the not so interesting ones. Looking at the library here? He quickly grabbed Riza's arm and wrote her a note asking her how to get a library card here.

"It is your school I.D. Just take your book and sign it out with that," she informed him. Edward took everything back he had said about the school. He loved it there. He would have to apologize to Alphonse later for being so skeptical. Seeing his enthusiasm Riza smiled. "You can look at them during lunch break," she said and pulled him along to the upper floors where the classrooms laid.

The classroom was small like the last one but it was barren of students. There were only a few scattered around the desks and Edward had an easy enough time finding a chair near the window where Riza had sat. It was extremely hot in the classroom and Edward found himself wishing to take off his blazer but as Alphonse informed him earlier, he had to get permission to even do that from the teacher. He settled for loosening his tie a little bit. Seeing that there was still a few good minutes before class, Edward took to staring out the opened window and seeing the small view of campus he could. It was rather large for being in the middle of Central and the grass was very well kept. It was obvious that this school was loaded with money from donating families or else he doubted that they would have been able to keep as much land as they held there. Dormitories could be seen across the sport fields near the dining hall. He guessed that most of the students boarded.

Edward sighed as he took in the scenery and attempted to rest his chin on his hand just to wince as he withdrew it. He massaged his sore jaw from where Mustang had punched him earlier. He knew it was bruised and he wondered just how bad it looked. Having a beaten face wasn’t what he wanted his first impression to be. He looked back at the door where a clock hung on the wall wondering if there was enough time to go to the bathroom to see if there was any chance in covering up the mess that was his face when he caught sight of him.

Mustang, that bastard, was standing in the middle of the doorway glaring with equal intensity back at him. It looked more like a pout than a scowl because of his bruised and inflamed nose, which Edward still took pride in. Why did that man have to be in every one of his classes? Edward wished that he would sit as far away from him as possible but instead the kid walked, no, stormed over to his side of the classroom and loomed over him, the scowl now more prominent and effective at close range.

The kid gritted something out of his teeth but Edward couldn't read what he said. Edward reached into his backpack and pulled out his notebook, handing it to him so he could write what he wanted to say. The kid just took it from his hand and smacked it on the top of his head. Edward, after regaining himself from the shock he just received, stood up and ripped the notepad out of his hand, scribbling something quick down on it and returned the favor by smacking it across the kid's own face, albeit a bit harder than the one he received. In Roy’s bafflement Edward shoved the notepad back in his hand for him to read. The kid looked like he wanted to throw him out the window but Riza was now next to him, gripping Mustang's shoulder to the point that Edward thought it would hurt. With one look to the girl, Mustang angrily turned his gaze back down towards the notepad.

‘I can't read your lips when you mumble.’

"You are in my chair," Mustang breathed, pronouncing each word as best as he could. Edward looked at him for a few moments and saw the rage that was consuming him. He smirked. Kicking his legs up on the desk, Edward rested his arms back behind his head just to spite him. It was obvious that he was saying _deal with it._ Mustang gripped his notebook with such intensity that Edward could see the strain in the pages.

Whether it was on purpose or whether it was on accident Edward did know but when Mustang tossed the notebook back at him it soared cleanly out of the open window. Edward watched it as it left the building and stood up to watch it fall the rest of the way down the three stories just to hit the ground below. He growled as he turned back towards the bastard, ready to punch his face in when he saw the man's smug look on his face.

The look he gave clearly said _Deal with it._ Riza looked disappointed in Mustang and shook her head disapprovingly as the bastard sat down in the chair behind him. Edward felt a jolt as Mustang roughly kicked the back of his chair. Edward glared at him, wondering how childish he could be. As if to apologize to him, Riza took some pages out of her own notebook and gave them to him so he could take notes in class. After all, he hadn't thought of bringing one of his other notebooks with him to his english class. He now would have to keep spares, especially for any class not on the ground floor.

Edward thanked her and began to write his name down on the pages when Riza turned around and tapped his desk. He looked up to see that the teacher had entered the room and class had begun. To say the man was huge was an understatement. He had to bend over to even get into the doorway and his sheer mass of muscle looked like it could have crushed a bear just by hugging it. On the schedule the teacher's name was Mr. Armstrong but Edward would have said that he was the soul brother to Mr. Curtis, his own teacher's husband. The man was talking, muttering dramatically to the front of the classroom. However, Edward couldn't understand a word underneath the man's mustache which was bigger than a bouquet of flowers and even more proudly kept than Professor Grumman's. Why did all of them need facial hair?

Edward was going to ask Riza what he was saying when the man pranced over to his desk and ripped him from his chair to pull him to the front of the class. There was no point in fighting because the man probably could have thrown him there like a javelin if he wanted to. In only a matter of seconds Edward found himself standing in front of the classroom staring at the other students who were waiting impatiently for any type of response. Edward looked confusedly between them and the teacher who was still talking away, moving his hands dramatically for emphasis.

Edward subconsciously reached for his notepad to ask him what he was saying but he remembered that it wasn't there with him. It wasn't in the building anymore. He felt a violent blush spread across his face as the teacher watched him expectantly with the rest of the class. His heart pounded in his chest as he wondered what to do. The man probably didn't understand sign language and neither did anyone else in the class to the best of his knowledge. He looked back to Riza for help but she appeared just as dazed as he was. However, he couldn't tell if it was from the man's vibrant displays or what he was asking of him. He looked to Mustang but of course that bastard was enjoying every moment of his embarrassment.

Edward stared at Mr. Armstrong wondering if he was still talking under his mustache or not, wondering what he had said or asked. His heart was racing and he didn't know what to do as the man stared at him, wanting him to say something. Edward glanced over and noticed the chalk board. He needed to write something but did he have to do it in front of the whole class? His eyes wandered back over and saw that all of them were still staring at him. Some were whispering to each other wondering why he wasn't doing anything. Yes, he had to. Edward found himself inching over to the black board. He picked up a small broken and insignificant piece of chalk and quickly scribbled a few words as small as he could just for the professor to read. The man loomed over him as he wrote, making him shake as his nerves felt like they were on fire. He stepped to the side and with a trembling hand pointed towards the writing.

‘I don't know what you are saying under your mustache.’

The man asked him a question, not considering what he just wrote, and Edward bit his lip as he tried his hardest to figure out what on earth he was asking him. However, something else caught the professor's attention and he turned around as Riza stood up from her chair and addressed him. Even from across the room, Edward could see what she was saying as she projected very clearly.

"Sir, he can't hear you. Edward is deaf," she explained to him. Armstrong turned back to him, his twinkling blue eyes shiny and his mustache began moving as he seemed to be dramatically apologizing to him. The man pulled him into a bone crushing hug which just made Edward blush even more with embarrassment. He could see the other students over the man's huge arms laughing and snickering to each other. When Armstrong let him go, Edward quickly ran back to his desk and collapsed down in it. He just wanted to stay there and die from embarassment. He never wanted to be called up to the front of the class. If he stayed put and stayed quiet he would never have to be caught voiceless like that again. He buried his face into his hands, wishing for class to end as fast as it possibly could but unfortunately it had just begun. And the entire time he could feel the smug prideful smile of Mustang bearing into the back of his head.

……..

Edward didn't take any notes in class. He couldn't understand the professor at all and there was nothing written on the board. The instant he saw everyone packing up to leave, signaling the ringing of the bell, Edward was out of the room, running down the staircase to get out of the building. He didn't wait for Riza, he didn't wait to get caught with Mustang, he just left. He ran down the sidewalk and around the building to where he thought that his notebook was thrown. He locked his eyes on the ground and desperately searched for it. He needed it. He _needed_ it. He paced up and down the east side of the building trying to find it but he only came up bare handed. It was getting late and he expected that the second bell had rung since the sidewalks were vacant of students. He didn't want to be late again to class, but he would not repeat what had just happened. He didn't think he could handle it.

Edward started to push his way through the flower bed that was overloaded with bushes and plants. It was practically a jungle. How he would ever find his notebook was a wonder to him. He dropped his book bag near the curb of the sidewalk so it wouldn't get tangled on the bushes. He was about halfway through the garden when he felt a hand on his back. He spun around to find Alphonse standing behind him with a curious expression plastered on his face. It seemed he was still upset with him for the fight earlier but his brother also forgave pretty easily.

"Brother, what are you doing here? Don't you have class?" He asked him, Edward being ever grateful that it was his brother.

"I-I need my notebook," Edward stuttered as he nearly choked on his words. His brother was the only person he would ever use his voice with. But now it was thick in his throat as he panicked trying to recover from his frightful experience in class.

"Why are you looking in the bushes?" Alphonse asked him. Worry was starting to spread on his face and Edward felt ashamed to have been the one to cause it. Alphonse just wanted what was best for him here at St. Flamels. He couldn’t shatter his hopes. Not on the first day. Edward bit his lip as he looked down at the ground again. He busied himself with finding it again.

"The window was open and I accidentally dropped it," Edward mumbled, not willing to admit he had almost gotten into another fight with the same aggravating kid. It was a lie, and Alphonse knew it, but instead of calling him out his brother sighed and dropped his own backpack to the ground to help him search for it. It took only a few more minutes with both of them looking for it. Alphonse handed the soil covered notebook back to him and Edward held it close in a death grip as if he was afraid Mustang would show up again and throw it away once more.

"Don't drop it, brother," Alphonse sighed to him. Edward simply nodded his head and quickly picked up his backpack once more from the curb. "Now, get to class. I am sure your teacher doesn't like you being late-"

"Don't pester me Al," Edward grumbled though the relief of finding his notebook still flooded through him. Alphonse waved to him as he started on his own way towards the library while Edward ventured down to find the science building again. He had chemistry and he had to bet that with his luck the bastard was in that one with him too.

……..

Roy was in the middle of presenting his crushed project when that punk walked into his chemistry class. It was a disaster. The teacher, Mr. Hawkeye, was looking so skeptical about his project and was not letting him off the hook from it being as destroyed as it was. 'Just another Mustang excuse'. Roy worked the entire month on that just to get it perfect for his presentation on the uses of carbon. But now the golden haired shrimp had to mess everything up. He was going to get the worse grade of his life time and it would take the entire semester just to bring it back up.

Edward caught sight of him when he walked in and he looked just as thrilled as he was to be in the same class together. Roy saw that he had his notebook clutched in his hand again and he immediately wished he could throw it out the window once more. Mr. Hawkeye, seeing their new addition to the class hovering lost in the doorway, raised his hand to stop his presentation as if people were actually listening in the first place.

"You must be Edward Elric. Though it is your first day, you need to understand that I don't accept any odd behavior in this class. You are tardy and therefore I will label you as such," the man's slick greasy voice slimed out. The man was a genius in chemistry but Roy would not spend much time with him if he could avoid it, even if he was his best friend's father. Edward wasn't paying attention as his gaze was wandering elsewhere across the lab, his curiosity obviously peaked by the chaos it held. Mr. Hawkeye, however, didn't like him distracting and delaying the class from its schedule and yelled at him again.

"Mr. Elric-"

"He's deaf, sir. He can't hear you," Roy grumbled, really not wanting to continue this pattern in any of his classes. He just wanted to finish his presentation and sit down so that he could end his humility. Mr. Hawkeye, wouldn't have it.

"Deaf or ignorant I don't care!" the man scolded as he stood up from his desk and walked over to where the new kid was standing. Roy massaged his brow annoyed and dropped his notes where he stood. He wasn't going to finish his presentation at that rate. Mr. Hawkeye loomed over the new kid. His face was filled with sweltering anger and an air of arrogance. Edward looked up at him, a curious and naive gaze on his face. He didn't know what he was going to get handed to him. When Mr. Hawkeye got angry, the whole building knew. Roy plugged his ears and watched as Edward stared wide eyed at the man's scolding screams. Roy didn't know if he understood any of what he said, but he didn't care. He wished Edward Elric to just leave.

At one point Edward tried to reply to Mr. Hawkeye when he asked him if he wanted to learn chemistry but when he took out his notebook, Mr. Hawkeye confiscated it from him and jabbed a finger towards the opposite side of the room where there was an unoccupied desk. Roy winced when he realized it was right next to his. Great. Edward looked really upset to be without his notebook again and tried to take it back but Mr. Hawkeye yelled at him again. He was quickly booted back to his seat. Roy watched carefully as the kid sat down and slouched over his desk grumpily. A short satisfied smirk grew on Roy's face. At least that punk was suffering with him.

Roy finished his presentation with the mechanism of combustion of carbon-based fuels. That was the only point where Mr. Hawkeye or anyone looked at all interested. Maybe there was still hope for a decent grade. Roy went back to his seat and easily ignored the half-assed glare that Edward gave him as he sat down behind him. Roy had the feeling that they would both be perfecting their scowls by the end of the year. With only a few minutes left of class, Hawkeye stood up to give their perfectly timed end of class announcements.

"Remember, we have lab tomorrow. Bring in your written lab notebooks. We will be doing calorimetry. Mustang," the man said looking down into his notes on his desk. Roy lifted his head up, and the man gave him a quick look over before marking something down on his page. "You don't have a lab partner. You are with Elric-"

"WHAT?" Roy exclaimed unable to hold in his anger and surprise. He quickly covered his mouth as Mr. Hawkeye looked up at him with a glare that would have silenced a baying dog. Roy quickly tried to recover himself and cleared his throat. "I-I mean, sir, there has to be other people who don't have partners we could-"

"You are the only one and despite your…. Questionable presentation," the man muttered glancing at the wreck of a model Roy had turned in, "you seem to take class lab and lecture as seriously as you do your own research. I need you to… inspire, Elric here." Roy looked behind him at Edward who looked absolutely offended by the man's comments. Roy would have said that he would get used to it, but he hoped he never did.

"Yes sir," Roy grumbled as the bell rang. He grabbed his things and shoveled them into his bag before hanging it around his shoulder. Edward got up and went over to the teacher, presumably to request for his notebook back. How he was going to do that without any paper, Roy didn't know, nor cared. He had enough of that shrimp for one day and it was barely over. He could only imagine what the rest of the year would have been like. He quickly left the chemistry room as Mr. Hawkeyes roars ignited once more.

………

Edward collapsed on his bed at home, exhausted and dreading ever letting his father enroll him in school. After seeing his bruised face and Alphonse explaining to him what happened, Hohenheim grounded him to his room.

"I didn't raise a slow minded barbarian," the man scolded him as he went up the stairs to his room. Edward argued that he didn't start it but the man wouldn't listen. No matter what he said, Hohenheim could never take him seriously. It only got worse when Edward had to announce to the both of them that he received detention from the holy arrogant Mr. Hawkeye. He was then grounded for the week.

Edward lounged on his bed with his face pressed firmly into his pillow to the point that it was nearly suffocating him. If he died he wouldn't have to go back to school. But with his luck Hohenheim and Alphonse would put his casket on the bus the next morning.

Edward didn't see when the door opened or how long his brother was there as he moped on his bed but soon the mattress dipped as Alphonse sat next to him. Edward didn't look up from where he was sprawled because he didn't want to listen to anything his brother had to say. It was his fault he was going to school in that hell hole. Alphonse should have just let him be.

A hand rested on his back roughly. Edward winced a little as it practically slapped him even though he knew Alphonse was trying to be gentle. His brother couldn't feel after all, it was his own problem. He often would accidentally hurt himself and not know it until later. He had to go home early several times through the year because he burned himself in lab or twisted his ankle on the track and didn't know. Though people surely thought he was strange for not being able to feel, Alphonse's challenges were different from his. Trying to be comforting was very difficult if you didn't know what hurt and what didn't. But for Edward it was enough. He turned over slightly so he could see his brother's face. His lips were moving and he was talking even though he knew for sure that he wasn't listening.

"-it will get better. First days are tough but-"

"Al, I don't think it is going to get better," Edward muttered as he flipped over to his back and looked up at his little brother. The golden eyes turned down sadly towards him. His first day upset Alphonse as well. His little brother had high hopes for him. He expected him to get along with everyone. But Edward just had to crumble up that dream and stuff it in the garbage.

"You don't know that-"

"Yes, I do. I have every class with that bastard and even if I can get away from him no one can understand me. I can't talk with anyone. In english….," he started but paused as he closed his eyes trying to ease himself from the horrible memory of Armstrong's class. "In english it was horrible. I didn't have anything to write on. I couldn't do anything-"

"Yeah, Armstrong's mustache is pretty difficult to read through," Alphonse muttered to himself as if just thinking about one of his issues then. "It will get better though brother, trust me-"

"All of my classes, Alphonse, are like that. No one can understand me and they think I am stupid and lazy because of it! It is my first day! I can't keep this up all fucking year," Edward exclaimed silencing his little brother for a few minutes as he tried to imagine what he had been through. Alphonse's golden eyes slid down to the floor as he realized how his day really went. Meeting him outside of the library was just one layer of the cake.

"Brother, I do admit, it might take some work but it will just take some time-"

"How do you know?" Edward challenged grumpily. Alphonse sighed heavy and it was then that Edward realized there was more behind what his brother wanted to say than he originally thought.

"When I first went to school after… yah know," he mumbled not wanting to bring up the accident that changed both of their lives forever, "it wasn't good for me either. Remember all of those bruises I would come back with?"

"Yeah, you kept accidentally hitting things-"

"I lied," Alphonse cut him off. Edward’s eyes widened in shock. "There was a kid in my class that thought it was funny to see if I really couldn't feel anything. I couldn't, no matter how many times he hit me. It stopped eventually but I was miserable the first few weeks of school… then I met my friends like Mei and Winry. Though I would have never been bullied if I stayed home, I never would have met them if I didn't go to school. I want you to find friends brother, that's really why I wanted you to go. I just don't want you to grow up alone."

"Al, why didn't you tell me?" Edward asked him as he sat up on his bed next to his brother. Alphonse smiled weakly at him.

"We were still learning to communicate with each other after you lost your hearing. I didn't know how," Alphonse muttered shyly. Edward frowned as he reached up and set his hand on his little brother's head and weakly ruffled his hair as he always did to ease his brother's worry. Alphonse was just looking out for him like he always did. Though Edward still didn't know if this time it was for better or for worse, he decided to trust his younger brother.

"Well, I did meet Fiery-"

"It's pronounced FUery," Alphonse corrected him and emphasized the u with a hand. Edward cut him off with a small glare which just brought a smile to his younger brother’s face.

"So I guess there is still hope," he finished still unsure. Alphonse hugged him, a little too tight than anyone should hug anything that wasn't a bear. Edward winced as he withdrew but tried to cover up the minor pain with a weak smile. After all, though Alphonse couldn't feel them anymore, hugs were his favorite.

After Alphonse left his room, Edward laid on his bed and stared at the darkened ceiling. Alphonse made him feel better about St. Flamels, but he still had his doubts about going to school. He didn't want to face Mustang or the other students in another uphill battle. But maybe his brother was right. Maybe all it took was time.

……….


	3. No Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward continues to struggle in his classes with Roy. He meets a new challenge with another student. Unfortunately he doesn't know his name.

**Lost Music**

Chapter 2

No Name

Roy pulled on his sock and tightened the laces on his sneakers for PE. They had it every other day to ensure they were "healthy" students. Those that didn't want to participate usually forged notes from their parents to get them out of class and used it as a study hall. Those that actually tried in gym were usually on sports teams already and crushed anyone who had minimal athleticism. Roy was the latter but that didn't mean he enjoyed PE. It was just a bunch of sweaty students getting changed in locker rooms to have 30 minutes away from their desk. Free period was a more productive use of his time where he could actually study and get work done.

All of the other boys were cheering and making jabs at each other as they got pumped up for gym class, leaving the locker room in silence as they made their way to the gymnasium. Roy finished tying his laces and reached into his locker to grab his water bottle. He was usually the last one out to the floor and the first one off. Any time he could get out of the class he would even if it was just a few minutes. However, that day it seemed that another student was going to be even later than he was.

Roy heard the door of the locker room open as he was filling his water bottle at the fountain. Footsteps raced in and Roy saw a flash of blond race past him. His stomach dropped as he knew who it was. Edward was holding his key in his hand and was trying hard to find his locker in the jungle of metal. A gym bag was pinned under his arm. Roy realized that along with all of his other classes he was in his gym class as well. He tried his best to ignore him and continued to fill his water bottle but it didn't last long when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"What?" he growled as he turned to look at the kid. Edward, not without a scowl, was holding up a number tag; locker 310. He couldn't find it, but Roy knew exactly where it was. It was right next to his. Roy glared at him and considered making him find his own way but he gave into the angel on his shoulder and pointed to his own locker that was still open. After a short look of surprise, Edward went over to his assigned locker and put the combination into the lock. Roy heard a pop of the locker and he knew that Edward had found it. He cursed the world and wondered why he had to have that shrimp in all of his classes. Not only that but the kid also had to be right next to him in everything. Lockers, Lab partners, friends. He hated sharing his space with the new kid. What did he do to deserve this?

Roy capped his water bottle with the full intention of slamming his locker in the kid's face and walking out of there but when he turned around he felt himself freeze in his place as he caught sight of the other boy. Edward was busy trying to tie up his overly long golden hair into a ponytail with his shoes half on and half laced. However, Roy's eyes weren't occupied by the mess of the laces, they were latched on the metal limb that poked out of the kid's black gym shorts. He had automail. His entire left leg was made out of shining silver metal that seemed to be polished regularly.

As if sensing that he was being watched, Edward glanced over his shoulder and sent a blood curdling glare his way for staring. With the hair tie still in his mouth he quickly flipped him off with one hand while the other still worked its way through his hair. Roy shook his head, snapping him out of his trance. He didn't know why he was so shocked about it. A lot of people had automail. Paninya in the grade below him had two metal legs and Buccaneer the football star had an arm which he liked to flaunt around whenever he could. It wasn't anything new. He couldn't rationalize why he was so surprised by it.

Roy regained his senses and returned the favor back to Edward with a quick point of his middle finger. He stormed over to his locker and quickly slammed it shut in the kid's face. He showed the kid his locker and didn't even get a thank you for it.

Students filled the gym floor and were either lounging on the withdrawn bleachers or running around already getting a head start on that day's class. Roy saw Heymans and Jean laying on the benches as Kain already was trying to pull them onto the floor. Though Kain wasn't the strongest athlete out there, he had motivation which was more than Roy could say he had.

"Hey Roy, what took you so long?" Havoc joked when he saw him. Though he knew full well that he was always the last out of the locker room.

"Shut up," Roy growled as he collapsed down on the bench next to him and took long sip of water. Heymans sat up to look at him, a curious look on his face in retort to his attitude. But easy investigation seemed to make him realize what was the matter.

"Edward's in this class too?" He asked with a small knowing smile on his face. "I was sure that he would have the other session with Riza-"

"Yes, he's in this bloody class. I don't understand your fascination for him. He's an prideful brat-"

"And you're an arrogant bastard. There's bound to be some friction," he retorted easily with his hands up. Roy glared at him, giving him a warning but he simply shrugged it off apologetically. "Come on. He isn't bad. You just got off on the wrong foot."

"He must only have a wrong foot considering he only has one," Roy muttered under his breath.

"What does that-" Kain was going to ask when the topic of the sentence walked out of the locker room. His hair was up and his laces were tied which was more than what Roy could have said in the locker room. He pictured all of his friend's jaws were on the ground as they saw Edward walk in with his automail showing. He didn't seem affected by the stares as anyone who was looking for too long got a hellfire glare right back at them. When Edward came up to them however, it was another story.

" _You have automail?!!"_ Kain breathed as he took a hold of Edward's leg and lifted it up to inspect the metal. Edward let out a small yelp as he toppled over to the ground. Kain profusely apologized to him as he began his tech rage all over again. Edward nervously pried his leg out of the kid’s grasp and simply nodded his head in a bland answer. Roy realised that in gym class Edward couldn't have his notebook with him. He was kind of relieved that he wouldn't have to read the kid's obnoxious comments or get hit over the head with his improvised weapon.

"It isn't that special," Roy mumbled as he turned his head away from the new kid grumpily. He really didn't want to hear from _his_ friends how amazing the shrimp was. Why couldn't he just go find his own and leave him and his friends alone? In the middle of his broodings the whistle sounded and Roy looked up to see the usual stern face of Ms. Armstrong come out of the coach's office. Her ice blue eyes were cold and they scanned the floor for the fresh meat that had just recently presented itself in the form of Edward Elric. Roy felt himself subconsciously grin. Coach Armstrong was the strictest, meanest, and toughest coaches in Central. You did not leave PE without being winded. But one of the most notorious things she did was pick on the new kids. Often arrogant thick-headed teenagers came in there thinking Armstrong wasn't going to be anything bad. Before long she would quickly whip the idea out of them that her class was going to be easy. It was now Edward's turn to taste her wrath. The cruel sneers on all of the other students’ faces made him realize they knew it too.

Armstrong blew the whistle again and everyone who didn't have a doctors note lined up on the edge of the gym for instruction. Edward, however, didn't seem to hear the whistle and was looking at them curiously as to why they were lined up. Kain motioned for him to get over to the line and the golden eyes widened in understanding. He stepped off to join them but Armstrong quickly blocked his way. She did not like tardy.

"I know you are the new kid here, but that gives you no reason to fuck around and be lazy. This is gym class not nap time," she scolded the kid making Roy smirk. "If you think you are going to use your automail as a ticket to get out of gym. You will be wrong. You are here to do PE so I expect you to be either sweating or crying when you leave here today." Edward must have read her lips as he tried to answer her with a quick movement of his hands. Armstrong didn't know sign language but she seemed to get the idea.

"He said he couldn't hear the whistle," Breda called out to her as he saw Edward's signing. The coach glared over her shoulder and struck his friend with her icy blue eyes. They weren't supposed to speak out in gym class unless spoken to.

"Did I ask you to speak?" she growled at him which effectively shut him up. Armstrong turned back to her new prey and looked him over once. A glint of pure evil shone through her eyes. It was obvious that him being deaf did not change her attitude.

"The only thing I need you to understand is two words," she said addressing Edward again. The kid's eyebrows furrowed as he focused on her lips instead of her devilish eyes that Roy bet could have frozen a person's soul in two minutes if used properly. "Dodge-ball. EVERYONE LINE UP!" Armstrong commanded and nearly booted Elric into the line with everyone else. The kid looked nervous. The golden head looked up and down the line as he tried to figure out what everyone was doing. Armstrong dragged out a huge cage of hard red rubber balls and ordered one of the "sick" students to line them up on the halfway mark. They didn't hesitate to obey.

"Rules, the rules," she hummed between her large pale lips which were curled into an evil smile. "Rule one, do not cross the line. Your side is your side. Defend it. Rule two, a hit is a permanent out. One touch, you are done. You can deflect with another ball or dodge to avoid it. Rule three, a catch is an out for the thrower. It's as easy as that. Elric," she said as her eyes bore down on the new recruit. Edward stiffened as he was addressed. "you are on that side. Everyone else is on this one."

Edward's eyes widened as he realised he was going to be by himself in the game. It was the traditional introduction to gym class. Beat up on the new kid. Roy had his own initiation to gym class years ago. It didn't end well but it didn't end badly either. He didn't expect Edward to have much luck in this round as he watched the kid trudge over to the other side like he was on death row. Everyone spaced out on the floor getting ready for the whistle.

There were two types of people, those who ran for the ball and those who didn't. Roy could usually tell who those were by where they stood on the court. Heymans was a runner because he stood closer towards the front. Kain was not because he was near the back. Roy always stood in the middle because he knew that a ball would come his way when someone got hit in the back. He was always in the perfect spot to pick it up. Edward, however, was hard to read because he was by himself. He stood in the middle of the court like Roy did. Being by himself, Roy would have expected him to want to hang back for everyone to take their shots but the look in the kid's eyes told him differently. He was surely nervous, but Roy didn't expect him to still try. It was a mistake that the kid would have to deal with.

The whistle sounded and everyone went sprinting to the line. Roy watched as Edward was one of them. The golden boy got there first but instead of picking up the ball for himself he punted it into the crowd of people. Roy barely had time to duck as it soared over his head and hit the kid behind him right in the face. Armstrong yelled at the kid to get off the court as he was out. One of Roy's classmates who were faster to the line threw his ball at the only target on the other side but since Edward didn't waste time bending down to pick up the ball he was already prepared to catch it. Another whistle sounded and the kid was out. Several more balls flew Edward's way and instead of easily deflecting them he threw himself towards the ground and tumbled to the side, throwing his ball and nailing another defensless kid right between the legs. Roy winced as he imagined the kids pain as he toppled over gripping his privates. The whistle sounded once more.

"Someone get that kid off the court!" Armstrong yelled as the in pained kid just laid on the ground. One of the other knock outs ran in and dragged him off with the promise of ice. Seeing as most of the balls were now on his side, Edward sauntered off to go retrieve them. Roy felt his blood boil as he watched him. Why wasn't he out yet? A big red ball was lifted in his face and Heymans grinned at him as he was holding two; one for him and one for himself. Roy took it, glad that his friend had decided to help arm him. Heymans was a retriever, Roy had realized after many gym classes with him. He never waited on the front lines for long. He just went out and brought back. Roy always wondered why no one thought of doing that before. He guessed teamwork was just as lost as chivalry.

"I hate to get him out but I don't want to be knocked out, especially the way that kid went down," Heymans mumbled with a small snicker as he nodded his head towards the kid who was currently icing his gonads.

"I thought you wouldn't want to hit your new _friend_ ," Roy grumbled sourly as he turned the rubber ball over in his hand. Heymans shrugged.

"You are my friend and if you were on the other side I wouldn't think twice about hitting you.” Roy deadpanned him as Jean started howling in laughter.

"Well, if it's any consolation, Roy, I would never consider hitting you," he chuckled as he slapped a hand on his shoulder, "mostly because you would probably already be out by the time I tried." That was just cruel.

Edward was returning back towards the center of the court with a rubber ball in either hand while he dribbled a third with his feet. He was going to kick it again. Roy immediately crouched down when the kid's leg went back. It flew over his head and nailed another kid in the stomach. Someone else went in charging full speed ahead with his arms raise and Roy found himself rolling his eyes as he was an obvious target. Instead of just throwing one at a time, Edward brought both his hands back and threw two balls at once. One of them nailed the charger in the hip and the other hit another guy who was not paying attention. Two more whistles.

looked around and noticed that aside from his friends there were only three other people left on their side. They were currently running around trying to gather all of the balls together. The other side was barren but Edward just waited on the front lines for them to take their shots. His golden eyes pierced the crowd and drove the fear of god into anyone that opposed them. Roy wouldn't have it.

"Heymans, Jean, arch the ball at him," Roy ordered them. "Kain, you throw straight down the middle. I will be on his right… no, his left," he muttered eyeing the kid's heavy automail leg. He saw how that thing weighed him down. If he were to fall any direction it would be with the weight.

"Gotcha," Jean grinned as he tossed his ball lightly and went to take up his position. Kain retrieved a ball and did the same. Roy watched as the other three people finished gathering up all of the balls into a neat little pile. They were wasting time collecting all of them while Edward just stood easily on the other side waiting for someone to throw the ball at him. He would get his soon enough.

One of the other kids went in overly confident. Confidence comes when your numbers are dwindling. He threw the ball but had a weak arm and Edward easily caught it. The whistle sounded as Edward immediately threw the ball as hard as he could but missed. Or so anyone would have thought. It rebounded off of the back wall of the gym and hit the ground right where the giant pile of balls was. In the collision, all of the poor kids loot went rolling to the other side out of their reach. This is why you don't stock up your valuables all in one spot. Edward grinned back in a cocky smirk as he picked up two balls with their names on it. Two more whistles sounded. It was up to them now.

Roy nodded to his friends and all of them started. Heymans and Jean cocked back the threw the ball high up in the air hoping that it would rain down on Edward's head. As Edward was distracted with the two above him, Kain threw one right down the middle towards him. Roy hoped that it would have hit him, but Edward seemed to have seen through their plan easily. He caught Kain’s ball, tumbled away from Havoc's and pitched the one he was holding with dead accuracy right towards Heyman's stomach. He couldn't dodge it in time and two more whistles sounded. As Edward was trying to regain his footing from his dodge Roy threw his own as hard as he could and nailed Edward right in the side. The kid fell over with a look of shock as it impacted him and the final whistle sounded. The game was over.

"Elric you are out. Mustang and Havoc win," Armstrong announced. "As we know losers get to pick up the balls. Class is dismissed." Roy frowned as he watched Armstrong turn back to her office, not without a curious glance towards Edward who was still recovering from his loss. He couldn't believe it. She was just letting him off the hook? Where was the big spiel on how he should work harder and everything? Roy growled in aggravation as he crossed his arms. Why was the new kid getting let off easy? A hand slapped him on the back and he heard Heymans wheeze as he rubbed his obviously sore stomach.

"That kid can throw," he smiled back weakly. Roy rolled his eyes and shook his head slightly with a small smirk at his friend's pain. Most of the people around were sporting some kind of ache and seemed to be glaring sourly at the one person who gave them all of their ailments. Though Edward undoubtedly got some respect for his aptitude in sports, he surely made a few enemies in doing so. Unfortunately, Roy felt that his friends weren't amongst them. He turned his eyes back over towards Edward and saw that Kain was talking excitedly to him.

"You're amazing! How did you learn how to do all of that? Did you ever play dodgeball before?" Edward seemed utterly lost in the kid's quick paced conversation and they didn't have their notebooks or anything to talk with. Seeming to realize this, Kain tried to talk slower for him. Edward shook his head in answer. Heymans saw this as they walked back to the locker room and let out a low whistle.

"Never played dodgeball and he creamed all of our asses-"

"Not mine-" Roy retorted.

"But he could have with that arm."

"We lasted pretty long in the game," Jean noted as he joined them on their walk back to the locker rooms. He passed Edward with a friendly wave which was eagerly returned as Edward started to pick the balls up around the gym. Unfortunately, some of the other kids were already tossing them up into the beams to make them impossible to recover. "Do you think he was trying not to hit us?"

"I don't know about you, but there was no doubt he was aiming a kick at my face," Roy muttered as he glanced behind him just to catch another bird being thrown his way by the shrimp of the topic. Roy returned it while his friends weren't looking. There was no way he was letting that punk off the hook for that.

…….

Edward ate his lunch outside of the library with his class notes propped open. It was quiet there, not that he could really tell aside from the lack of people. All the students except for a few stragglers were down at the lunch building making chaos. He would rather have been in the library to be with the books but unfortunately, they closed it during lunch hours when no one was tending the desk. That was stupid. Fuery had invited him to come and eat lunch with him and the rest of the group. However, Edward quickly denied. As much as he wanted to talk with his new classmates, he couldn't do that in a crowd. He couldn't follow group conversations at all with how fast and random they travelled from person to person. He didn't want to be a burden in the conversation. He didn't want to answer questions. He didn't want them thinking he was different… well, too different.

Instead, Edward decided to eat lunch by himself and try and review his notes for Mr. Armstrong's english class. It was a very difficult task since he didn't have any notes from that class. The man's cursed mustache got in the way and he had no clue what he was saying. Even more, Armstrong never wrote anything on the board to help. It was all aural lecture. He didn't know what they were learning about. Edward sighed as he picked up his sandwich he had packed in his lunch and took a bite out of it. Hohenheim always made him pack a lunch so he wouldn't have to order food in line. The man seemed to think he was incapable of asking for a plate of food from the servers by himself. On the rare occasions he would go out to eat, Hohenheim or Alphonse would always order for him. It was annoying that they didn't think him able to do it himself. However, this time Edward was grateful. Packing a lunch meant that he could just eat outside without worry.

As Edward ate, at least enjoying the sunshine, a sudden shadow loomed over him marking the arrival of a person. Edward frowned and glanced up, expecting it to be Alphonse wanting to argue with him to eat with the group, but it wasn't. A strange kid with long black hair and piercing purple eyes stood above him with a rather terrifying grin on his face. Edward felt a chill run down his back as the kid just stared at him and swallowed the piece of sandwich that was in his mouth. He recognized the kid from a few of his classes. He always sat on the opposite side of the classroom from him and his friends so he never really knew him. In fact, Edward didn't know half of the students in his own class because he couldn't hear their names nor did they seem to have the patience to talk to him.

"So you're the kid who gave Mustang a good number. I expected more but beggars can't be choosers," the kid snickered, Edward watching his lips move in almost an animalistic snarl. He didn't know what to say about that comment so he just kept quiet. Seeing as he wasn't responding, the kid lounged down on the set of steps next to him and plucked an apple out of his lunch bag. He didn't eat it. He just tossed it in his hands like it was a ball.

"You know, it really isn't that hard to believe that you got into a fight so quick with that kid. The bastard just doesn't know when to stand down. It's ridiculous." Edward nodded his head at that, completely agreeing. Roy was completely furious about his project and couldn't seem to accept the fact it was an accident. If he only knew how to stand down they might not be at each other's throats. Edward laughed at that thought. Of course they would still be at each other's throats. Mustang's a bastard. Nothing could change that. The kid next to him smirked as he saw the agreeing look on his face.

"I could see he got you good too. See? Never stands down. Always has something to fight for. It's usually those stupid friends of his. I think it is really fascinating how someone can be friends with Roy Mustang. It is rather a feat. All because of that Riza girl he seems to have an affinity for hanging out with freaks." Edward's eyes lit up as he read that. Yes, he hated Mustang more than anything but his friends? Roy had a lot of friends and they were perhaps the coolest people Edward has ever met. Fuery, Heymanns, Vato, Jean, everyone. They were his friends too from the first moment they met. Though he still didn't know much about them, his intuition told him that they weren't anyone to stray from. His brother knew that too. Anyone who says differently deserves to know they are wrong.

‘They are not stupid freaks.’ Edward wrote down on the notepad beside him. The kid read the note and his eyebrows raised farther on his head as if he wasn't expecting Edward to argue with him. Most people don't. That's the problem with being deaf, people don't think you have a voice.

"So you are buddy buddy with Mustang now. I thought you would have been different with your obvious aggravation with him. Maybe it's what boyfriends do these days. I wouldn't know," the kid said with a joking smile, but it had edge. It was so sharp Edward could only imagine that he was hissing the words at him. Instantly he knew that he didn't like him.

‘I am NOT friends with Mustang, let alone boyfriend.’ The kid chuckled when he saw it. His eyes became laced with a peculiar light to them that Edward couldn't make out.

"Yeah? Well I would have to say otherwise. You seem to fit the bill with him. A freak who is so broken they can't even hear. It's like your puzzle pieced together and Mustang sure loves basket cases. It’s the only people he ever dates now a days." Edward felt his blood boil at the kid's comment. The kid opened his mouth to take a bite of the apple he was playing with but Edward quickly shot out and snatched it from him before he could even eat it. The kid glared at him as if he was angry but an odd twisted smile played on his face as if he wanted it.

"Ah, so the freak has bite," the kid grinned, the fiery look in his eyes suddenly striking Edward as being envious. "You should have thought twice about being friends with Mustang. Perhaps I can make you reconsider." Before Edward knew it, the kid was standing over him with a hand around his collar and his half eaten sandwich in his hand. The kid slapped it into his already bruised face so hard it sent him reeling. Edward threw a punch to get the kid off of him and nailed him right in the stomach but he didn't even flinch. It didn't even phase him. With a victorious grin as if he had already won, the kid dumped his entire lunch all over him, earning bruises for each item on the menu. Edward gasped for breath as the kid plowed his apple into his stomach and knocked the air out of him. He reached up and pulled the kid's hair, hoping to pull him off of him but he felt another fist plow itself into his stomach making him let go as tears came to his eyes and his lungs begged for air. That didn't stop the kid from continuing. In no time his uniform was left a horribly stained mess from his own lunch. Edward choked and gasped for air, trying to regain any sense that wasn't pain. The kid dropped him, stood up and dusted off his own clothes. There was an appeased glimmer in his eyes. He muttered something but Edward couldn't make out as his eyes were too filled with tears to see him. Without anything else, the kid sauntered off leaving Edward on the steps as if nothing ever happened. With a shaky hand Edward reached up and grabbed the railing on the steps and hoisted himself up, his body complaining all of the way. His breaths were hoarse as he tried to regain his sense of direction. He looked around but the strange kid was gone. He was nowhere to be seen.

Edward glanced back at his school bag and saw that his lunch was torn apart. All of the food either found its way onto his bag or his clothes. There was nothing left aside from a few stray pieces of bread or wrappings. He didn't think there were true bullies in this school. But why did he do that? Why did he fight him? He never did anything to him. Hell, he didn't even know the kid's name. The only link that he had was when the kid mentioned Mustang. He wasn't even friends with the bastard! They hated each other. What did he do to even deserve this? Alphonse would mother hen him if he ever found out. He would have someone following him everywhere he went just to make sure he was okay. Edward couldn't let him know. He didn't think his pride could handle it if people expected him to be incapable of walking to class by himself. He was already on a short leash with his father pretending he was frail. He couldn't let this make it worse.

Suddenly Edward spotted some students coming back from lunch towards the library. It should be opening any minute now and the bell would ring soon if he wasn't mistaken. He scurried down the couple steps and quickly piled his notebooks and things back into his bag to pretend like nothing happened. He saw the smug face of Roy amongst them with Riza beside him. They were making simple conversation but fell silent upon seeing the mess he was in.

"Edward, what happened?" Riza asked concerned. Roy instead found the lighter side of things and tried to control his arrogant chuckles. It was amusing to the fool that he was covered in food. Riza reached up to his face and gently pulled off a piece of ham that was stuck there from his sandwich. Edward didn't even feel it. His face was still sore and hurting from when the kid plowed his fist into it. He caught Roy mutter something under his breath. He was calling him Hamface or something of the likes. Edward felt his face turn red as he looked away from them. He reached into his backpack again and pulled out his notebook. The notes of his previous conversation were already erased.

‘Wasn't looking where I was going. Tripped on the stairs with my lunch.’ He wrote simply. Riza read this and hesitantly took his feeble answer with a nod.

"We should get you cleaned up. If the teachers catch you like this. They might write you up for tarnishing your uniform-"

"They should write him up for tarnishing his face," Roy commented. Edward felt his face grow even redder in embarrassment. He gave a small grateful smile to Riza for the advice and quickly pushed past the two of them. He took a light jog towards the arts building where he could attempt to clean himself up and assess the damage. Hot tears threatened his eyes but he choked them down. He would be damned if he let this beat him. His younger brother was fine going to school. He could do it too. He had to.

…….

Riza slapped him on the shoulder roughly as they watched the librarian unlock the building.

"Why would you say that? Couldn't you see he was upset?" she scolded him. Roy rolled his eyes as he made his way up the steps towards the library. He hoped to get to class before the rest of his class did. He hated pushing to get into the classroom.

"Nothing upsets him. He's an angry little troll. He's probably just mad he couldn't one up me for once, the brat- Ow!" Roy yelped as he got another slap on the back of the head. "Would you quit it?!" he scolded her as he turned around and glared as his friend. Her brown eyes burned into him. They were filled with anger though her face was otherwise straight.

"No one's made of steel, Roy. Some things are bound to get to them and your taunting is not going to help-"

"Well if he isn't made of steel he shouldn't walk around acting like a total brick. It was a joke. He’s fine," Roy retorted and took full stance on his perspective. Riza's glare hardened but Roy rolled his eyes. He didn't expect her to understand. Edward hadn't done anything to offend her. He hadn't destroyed her perfect grades and continued to try and flip her off. Edward and Riza were now practically best friends and he couldn't help but feel betrayed. Now the woman wanted him to apologize to the kid? He drew the line there. It wasn't his fault. Edward should have been the one to apologize to him. Roy didn't care if he was deaf. Manners were universal.

The class sat down in their seats did Riza not talk to him at all until the teacher walked in to start the lecture. She was obviously upset with him but Roy didn't understand why she thought he was the bad guy. If anyone it was her and everyone else who befriended that blasted brother of Al.

Eventually, the bell rang which signaled the end of class and Roy only half noted that Edward had not shown up at all. He shrugged and didn’t let himself care one bit. He hoped to get lucky and have Edward miss out on all his other classes too. Maybe even for the rest of the year. Why did he ever have to transfer to St. Flamel's?

………

Edward stumbled into chemistry just as the bell rang. His blazer was smeared with his lunch as he tried to wipe the food remnants off with a wet paper towel from the bathroom during his English period. It had only made it worse. He knew Hohenheim was going to get even more upset than he already was when he saw it. That is, if he didn't also turn up with a detention slip for being out of uniform.

As Edward walked in he caught the familiar gleam of a crooked smile. The dark-haired kid who was outside the library was sitting in the closest corner by the door. The knowing grin made Edward's heart flicker in fear as if he expected the kid to have a watermelon behind his back for more ammo. The strange purplish eyes seemed to look over his work with a sense of pride as if the food that was smeared across him was a new masterpiece painting getting put on for show. Edward tried his best to cover up the mess with his backpack so that no one could see his work and sent the kid a glower to fend him off. However, Mr. Hawkeye had a very sharp eye and announced the mess to the class. He wasn't even fully into the room when the man was standing over him to give him a lecture on being tardy with his state of appearance. Edward wanted to retort that he wasn't tardy as the clock had just struck the hour by his watch, but he kept his notebook shut in his backpack. The teacher wouldn't listen to what was not physically said and he would rather not have his notebook confiscated again. After his long-winded lecture Edward found a pink detention slip in his hand before he knew it and Mr. Hawkeye was ordering him to his seat. Edward mentally cursed himself as he walked across the room towards where his desk was supposed to be just to find that it wasn't there. Edward looked around for his desk but all others were filled with his classmates. His simply wasn't there anymore. Mustang was sitting with a smug look on his face and Edward knew he was responsible. He felt his face turn red with anger as the kid shrugged pretending he had nothing to do with it. Edward wrapped his hands around the kid's desk and was about to yank it from him when he felt the ever looming presence of Mr. Hawkeye behind him.

"Boy, when I say sit down I expect it to be done," the man seethed at him. Edward motioned to the void he was currently standing in where his desk and chair should have been but the man held no mercy. "When I say sit, it doesn't have to be in a chair." As if commanded by the blistering cold stare of Mr. Hawkeye, Edward dropped down to the dirty tile floor and sat on the ground. He saw his other classmates giggle and snicker as if this was one big joke. It wasn't. Edward was being taught on the floor. Appeased by his taking orders, Mr. Hawkeye returned to the front of the class to start the lecture on addition reactions. Edward struggled to get his notebook comfortable in his lap to take notes but it was even hard to see the board from the ground. The more he struggled, the more anger built inside of him as he could feel the smug stare of Mustang behind him. Yes, he was going to kill that bastard.

……..

"Another detention, Edward. What are you doing? I didn't send you to St. Flamels to act like a wild animal-" Hohenheim seethed at him as he came home late that evening after having late night detention with Mr. Hawkeye. He was sent to scrubbing test tubes the entire night which wouldn't have been a bad job if they were cleaned more than once a year. Oil was caked so hard to the bottom of the test tube Edward threw some of them in the garbage can when Mr. Hawkeye wasn't looking. He doubted they would ever get clean anyways. But now with burning raw hands from acetone, soap, and water, he got to return home from a long day just to get his ear scolded off by his father.

"It's not my fault" Edward motioned at his father but the man wasn't looking. He never looked. Whenever Edward tried to tell him something, the man refused to read his hands because he wanted him to speak to him. However, Edward was more stubborn than his old man and if he wanted to talk to him he had to do it his way.

"You fight with one of your peers and then you trash your uniform. Do you know how expensive it was to get that for you?" Hohenheim scolded him.

"It wasn't my fault," Edward repeated but once more the man wouldn't have it. His rant continued as Edward continued to stand in the middle of the doorway with his backpack hiked on his shoulder.

"Edward, if you aren't going to take this seriously, then I am not going to let you 'goof off' at home. It seems you do that enough at school. No electronics of any sort at home. No computer, phone, television. None of it. You understand?" Edward's eyes widened as he realized that the man was not letting up.

"You can't-" Edward started but stopped as he saw his father extend his hand out expectantly.

"Phone," he ordered. Edward took a step back and shook his head. He lifted his hands to argue but Hohenheim closed the distance and persisted. "Phone," he repeated. Edward couldn't hear the grit in his voice but he knew that the man was furious. He reached into his pocket and felt the smooth back of his phone against his hand. He needed it to talk. Alphonse had debated with their father to get one for him. If something were to happen, he couldn't use a regular phone. He wouldn't know what the person on the other end was saying. He wouldn’t even know if they picked up. A talk to text app helped him read what the other person was saying. Not only that, but texting was one of the only sound ways he could communicate with someone. No one thinks it’s weird to send a message. You don't need to talk to send a text message. However, Hohenheim didn't seem to care at that moment. He kept his palm outstretched and Edward finally relented and dropped his phone into it. Hohenheim walked over to the entranceway table and set it in the bowl that held the car keys and random necessities.

"When you leave for school you can take it. When you come home, it will be placed right there. If I see you on it, you will wish you had detention," Hohenheim warned.

"Dad, this isn't fair. It isn't like I smashed food on my uniform on purpose. I am not trying to get detention!" Edward argued but it fell upon ignorant eyes as Hohenheim turned away and made his way back towards his office. He was completely disregarding anything he was trying to say. Edward gripped his hair in frustration and let out an aggravated cry. He stormed down the hallway. He kicked Hohenheim's study door as he passed and slammed the door to his room shut. He threw his book bag against it for extra measure. It hit with what he hoped was a loud bash and his books scattered to the floor. Edward let out a frustrated scream and collapsed to his bed, ignoring the fact that his clothes were covered in food.

The anger that bloomed in his chest, bubbled to his throat and dissipated into nothing but loneliness. Why couldn't his father just listen to him? Why did he treat him like a child? It wasn't like he wanted to get detention. It wasn't like he wanted to go to St. Flamel's at all. He couldn't understand the lectures. He didn't know what people were asking him. Alphonse had told him that it was all going to pass but he was starting to have heavy doubts about that.

The hatred Roy and he had with each other was infuriating but it was also understandable. However, that kid with the purple eyes, Edward didn't know what his problem was with him. Edward didn't know who he was, he never talked to him before in his life, but now he was being beaten to a pulp by him. He didn't know when it would end. Edward wished he could have just told Alphonse and Hohenheim what really happened. They would surely understand but he didn't think he could manage their rebuttal. He would lose any freedom he had left. His father already treated him like a child on a short leash as it was. If he told him he was being bullied…. The man might assign a body guard. However, now that Edward had made up some oddball story, one of which Alphonse obviously didn't believe, he was getting his father's wrath instead. He was being grounded for something not even his fault. Edward didn't know how much more he could take. It was humiliating.

Edward felt a dip in the side of his bed as someone sat down next to him. A gentle hesitant hand rested on his back and just weighed their softly as if to comfort him. Edward glanced back and saw his brother there, not talking, not looking at him, just staring off out the window and into the small front yard of their house. In his eyes he could see Alphonse was remembering, what he didn't know, but he had a pretty good guess. After a few moments, the golden eyes of his younger brother looked down at him. They did not offer him a smile.

"I wish you would tell me what happened." Edward looked away for a moment in shame as he knew he had told a lie straight to his brother's face but once more he would tell it again.

"I fell on my lunch box. That's all," he mumbled back at him.

"It would be easier on you and the rest of us if we knew what is going on. I can already assume what happened, but I want to know who did this to you."

"It would be easier if Dad wasn't acting like a complete-"

"Dad only wants you to talk to him-" Alphonse interrupted like he should already know this. Edward did.

"I try and he doesn't listen!" Edward argued keeping his eyes on Alphonse's mouth for any retort. There seemed to be plenty in him.

"He wants you to use your voice. He hasn't heard it in years-"

"And in years he hasn't tried to listen to me! He doesn't even try and he treats me like I am stupid. Do you know how hard that is? I try and I try to talk to people but they either don't care enough to listen or don't understand! And when that happens, when they don't hear me, they can't possibly get to know me. They assume I am slacking on purpose or just plain dumb!" Edward yelled at his brother. Alphonse looked down as he listened to him talk, shame forming in his own eyes as Edward laid out his problems. Edward could feel the coarseness in his own voice and knew that if he wasn't yelling, he sure was talking with determination. "Do you know how lonely that is?" he asked him. "It is like I am locked in a separate world from everyone else, throwing them all keys and watching them all ignoring to free me."

"Always the poet, brother," Alphonse sighed softly. There was a long pause as they all absorbed the latest in the conversation. Edward was feeling like there was finally a weight taken off of his chest, but a bitter taste formed in his mouth as he realized the truth in his statement.

He had been learning for years to use sign language and to communicate with the outside world. In elementary school right after the accident, Edward almost immediately lost all of his friends. He couldn't talk to them. He couldn't hear them. He didn't know how to read lips to make it easier. They would always try to write notes but it never worked out. It was too slow and no one understood. People pushed him to be normal again. They would scream in his ear to try to get him to hear and when he tried to talk to them they would make fun of his voice. Even Hohenheim made passive comments on how he talked. Edward had tried not to let it get him down until one day a kid in the lunch hall punched him in the head because he was talking at odd intervals. He couldn't hear himself. He wouldn't know. After that moment, Hohenheim brought him home to be taught in their own house under a tutor and Edward refused to verbally talk with anyone other than his younger brother. Alphonse was good at pretending things were normal. Hohenheim refused to admit things were different.

"Brother," Alphonse started again after they took their pause. "I know why you don't use your voice around anyone else but me. But all of that happened a long time ago. You can talk to dad. He will understand-"

"No he won't," Edward said finitely, sharply, signing the words to let it sink into his brother. Alphonse looked at his hands as he talked, reading them instead of hearing his voice. That just showed his character. He was the only person who he knew would respect the visual language when it came down to it. He knew his father wouldn't have tried. "He won't understand because he doesn't _listen._ He only hears what he wants to hear. And what he wants to hear is not a deaf son. He is making that quite clear to me."

"Edward-"

"Leave me alone, little brother. You know it's true," Edward mumbled. Silence strung between them and Edward turned his head away, plowing it deeper into his pillow in hopes of finding some relief in its suffocating darkness. He felt the weight of Alphonse on his bed shift a little before it was gone.

"I am going to go talk to dad," he would have seen Alphonse say if he was looking at him, but Edward didn't want to let the world in at that moment. It had already hurt him enough. The world was plunged into further darkness as Alphonse turned off the light when he left. A few moments into the darkness, Edward rolled onto his back and stared at the darkened shadows on his ceiling. With everything that was happening at school, he only wanted somewhere safe to come back to. Someplace where he was always heard with someone to talk to. He should have known that home wasn't it. He didn't think Hohenheim ever would allow it to be.

…….

Alphonse knocked lightly on the door to their father's study, he heard the water of the shower start to run as Edward must have been cleaning himself up. When Alphonse went to talk to him only a few minutes prior, he had seen that Edward still had pieces of ham and mayo stuck in his hair. He was a mess and Alphonse was worried about who had made him like that. He wished that his brother would just tell him. He could have stopped it, or at least given his brother support. He guessed that after not having any friends for the longest time while he was out of school, Edward forgot he wasn't alone.

Alphonse heard a call from the inside of the study beckoning him into the room. He quietly opened the door and took a step into the small room before closing it silently behind him. Their father was stooped over the desk with piles of papers strewn across the table. Alphonse knew what they were. Ever since the accident that took Edward's hearing, Hohenheim had been trying to find a way to fix it. There were many surgeries available to help in hearing repair but it was something they couldn't afford. The automail surgery that Edward already received had costed a mini fortune in surgery and rehabilitation not to mention actually purchasing the limbs themselves. Hohenheim had been crunching numbers since to try and find a way to pay for his ear surgery as well. He was trying everything within their budget to fix Edward, like he was broken. He just wanted to fix him and turn things back to normal. However, deaf Edward was the new normal, Alphonse knew, and he just wished their father would realize it.

"I heard some rather loud voices upstairs. Did Edward finally decide to talk to me-"

"Dad, he does try to talk to you-"

"With his voice. I know he can use his voice but yet he refuses to with anyone but you. Why can't he talk to me?" Hohenheim asked him, not looking up from his work as if the answer wasn't enough to search for. Alphonse shifted nervously as he looked down at the ground.

"He… He doesn't like the sound of his voice-"

"That's stupid. He can't hear it."

"Other people can though-"

"Then we will take him to speech therapy if he is having trouble talking. They would be able to help him know his own voice-"

"He doesn't have trouble talking just…,"

"Just what?" Hohenheim asked impatiently, looking up from his work at his youngest son. Alphonse felt himself clamp his mouth shut as he finally felt like he was talking to a wall. He knew that no matter what he told his father, he still wouldn't stop pressuring Edward into acting normal. He remembered seeing how Hohenheim treated him. Their father gave Edward simple detailed instructions like he was a little child who knew no better. He didn't trust Edward in taking care of himself and didn't allow him out of the house unless one of them were with him. But worse of all, the man just got frustrated when he had to face the fact that Edward wasn't the same after the accident. Hohenheim refused to accept that Edward was different and things had to change. Alphonse knew that nothing he said would change Hohenheim's mind.

"N-nothing," Alphonse mumbled. Their father sighed and turned his back to Alphonse for a breath. He rubbed the back of his neck tiredly and Alphonse knew he needed a rest that his mind refused to give him.

"I just… I miss hearing it," Hohenheim released with a breath. Alphonse's eyes widened as he heard his father admit that. Hohenheim was never an emotional person and he never shared anything personal. It just wasn't what he did. So Alphonse was quite shocked hearing Hohenheim even say anything that was one his mind. Shaking his head as if disregarding what he just said aloud, Hohenheim straightened his back and turned his eyes down towards his work.

"Tomorrow, I need you to go to the store to pick up some more groceries for Edward's lunch," Hohenheim said quickly changing the subject. "We are running low on bread and ham-"

"Can't Edward just get lunch in the dining hall? It's free and has a lot more than-"

"You know he can't order food without one of the waiter's trying to strangle him-"

"I could order it for him-"

"Just take Edward, go get the groceries tomorrow. Okay Alphonse? I will leave money on the table. Make sure Edward stays by the cart and doesn't wander off," he reminded him. Alphonse sighed, his shoulders sagging in defeat.

"Yes, dad," he mumbled.

"Now, I have a lot of work here to finish up. Good night, Alphonse," his father said, his voice softer like he was apologetic they couldn't continue their aggravating conversation. Alphonse wished him goodnight and left the study. He felt almost as angry as Edward was earlier that evening. Even when he tried he couldn't get his father to budge. Now he knew why Edward had given up a long time ago. Alphonse dragged himself back up the stairs and saw Edward walk out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He was cleaned up but still soaking wet as he was going to disappear into his room. However, his brother's golden eyes caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye and paused. His defeat must have been plastered all over his face and Edward read it instantly.

"Told you so," he simply muttered before closing the door to his room. Alphonse felt something in his heart fall at that. It seemed Edward had accepted the world as it was which shattered all hope Alphonse had in helping him. He needed to find a way to cheer his brother up.

…………


End file.
